Louis F. Oberdorfer, a former deputy to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s turned federal judge, died Thursday on his 94th birthday.

This according to Sheldon Snook, a spokesman for the federal court in Washington, who said Oberdorfer died in his sleep.

His long career saw him defend everything from civil rights to the right of free speech for Ku Klux Klan members.

Long career: Louis F. Oberdorfer died Feb. 21 on his 94th birthday after a storied career as a lawyer and judge

Oberdorfer was appointed to the court in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter and took senior status in 1992, meaning he continued to hear cases but fewer of them. He heard cases until several years ago.

He had two strokes in recent years, said Judge Royce C. Lamberth, the Chief Judge of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia.

As a judge, Oberdorfer authored more than 1,300 opinions. In the late 1980s, one of his rulings pushed the U.S. Defense Department to extend veteran status to thousands of men who sailed merchant ships during World War II.

Beginnings: Oberdorfer rose to the national stage as Assistant Attorney General to Robert F. Kennedy in 1961

In 1990, he issued a ruling ordering the District of Columbia to give the Ku Klux Klan permission to march to the U.S. Capitol.

He also made headlines for ignoring mandatory minimum prison terms for crack cocaine crimes.

Congress has since changed the law, which came to be seen as unfair.

For years, Oberdorfer also oversaw cases involving Vietnamese orphans who were hurt in a plane crash in 1975 during the United States' ‘Operation Babylift.’

Lockheed Aircraft Corp. eventually paid millions to the victims.

In 2000, Oberdorfer was part of a three-judge panel that heard a lawsuit by District of Columbia residents arguing it was unconstitutional they weren't allowed to elect representatives to Congress.

Two judges agreed city residents were being treated unequally but said they couldn't do anything to fix the situation.

Federal bench: Oberdorfer was appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and authored over 1,300 opinion

Oberdorfer, however, wrote a partial dissent saying Washington residents should get to elect members to the House of Representatives.

Oberdorfer grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and graduated from Dartmouth College.

After getting a law degree from Yale, studies that were interrupted by his Army service during World War II, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black during the term that ran from 1946 to 1947.